Living in a Twilight World
"We live in a twilight world..."
The quote is from the latest Christopher Nolan movie Tenet, another to add to his collection of masterpieces. This one focuses heavily on the concepts of time and knowledge (two of Nolan's favorite subjects really). It's an incredible movie full of complex action, a beautiful, unraveling plot, and a stunning score. I could write a research paper on just the main conceit of the film alone, but I wish to hone in on something a bit more applicable to myself at this present time. There are a couple of discussions in the film around knowledge and ignorance and some general rules concerning operating on a need to know basis that are touched on throughout. In all the twisting and turning that goes on, sometimes it pays to not know. This is contrasted by searches for knowledge, both by the viewer and the protagonist as they attempt to follow the plot. This has led me back to some considerations I've personally made on the value of not knowing and the bliss in ignorance.
I have undergone (and am currently undergoing) a strange form of intentional ignorance. The 2020 US presidential election is currently well under way and I have determined to remain ignorant of the outcome for as long as I can. This started as a bit of a joke with a few friends of mine and then turned into a sort of contest to see who could last the longest in ignorance. This little experiment has required me to carefully avoid all of my usual sources of knowledge on the internet as I am certain that any of them could reveal the outcome at any time. This has lead me to a bit of an issue, namely that I feel more isolated than usual. I've been cut off my daily "stream of zeitgiest" and it no longer can distract me from my own thoughts or attempt to quench my social longings. I'm the one living in a twilight world now. It's a strange limbo between knowing and not knowing. I am aware that something is going on, but not the specifics. This also leads to some minor anxiety. Not that there wasn't some about the election before, but this is different. A coin has been flipped and I'm just waiting to see the outcome. I desire to know, but knowing might not be very enjoyable either. Can I stay ignorant forever? Is ignorance actually bliss? I don't feel very blissful at the moment.
The answer to the quote that is given in the movie as a code phrase response is "There are no friends at dusk". This has various implications in the film, but I want to take it out of that context and see if I can bring it into this situation with me. Does this mean that knowing the answer won't make me feel better about any of it? Or does it tell me that the complete lack of knowlege is not my friend? I'm not sure and haven't mulled over the analog enough to really break it down. Maybe it's not even a good analogy at all, but I did find it interesting that the exploration of knowlge and ignorance in the film lined up so well with an exploration of it in my own life.